1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the art of coating and more particularly to the art of using powder coating reactants.
2. The Prior Art
Various methods of coating glass with metal or metal oxide films are well-known in the art. A technique for depositing a variety of metal oxide films onto a hot glass surface in a continuous float glass ribbon environment is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,660,061 to Donley et al. A mixture of organometallic compounds in organic solution is sprayed onto a glass surface at a temperature high enough for thermal reaction of the organometals to form a metal oxide film. This technique produces durable metal oxide films having desirable aesthetic and solar energy control properties. Although the use of large volumes of solvent results in rapid cooling of the glass, more significant disadvantages are the health, safety and environmental effects of the use of large volumes of organic solvents.
These disadvantages may be abated by elimination of the organic solvent. A method for solventless chemical vapor deposition of coatings from vaporized powder coating reactants is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,852,098 to Bloss et al. A powder coating reactant is dispersed into a hot stream of gas, vaporized, and conveyed to the surface to be coated, which is maintained at or above the temperature at which the coating reactant pyrolyzes to deposit a film. Although the disadvantages of a solvent system are avoided, vaporization of the coating reactant requires high temperatures, with the possibility of premature thermal reaction of some coating reactants.
Another method of vapor deposition is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,783 to Henery, wherein a solid particulate coating reactant is fluidized by introducing a volume of fluidizing gas through a mass of reactant. The fluidized mixture of coating reactant and gas is diluted with an additional volume of gas prior to delivery to the surface of the substrate to be coated. An apparatus for carrying out the technique of fluidizing a bed of solid particulate coating reactant is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,783 and is claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,297,971.
A method which avoids the health, safety and environmental problems of a solvent-based coating method, the high-temperature vaporization risks of a vapor deposition method, and the complexity of a fluidized bed powder coating method is the subject matter of the present invention.